Back to Boston
by HatersFuelMyFlames
Summary: If Zack could've redone that whole day, he would've. He's not aware that some actions change things for the better, though.


**A/N: OK, well Zack and Maya are going to have a different breakup than the one on the show. Also, pretend Esteban never came on deck and got married.**

Back to Boston.

Chapter One.

Maya wrapped her arms around Zack, grimacing slightly as she realized he wasn't going to do the same. Slowly she pulled away and looked at him, allowing her arm to rest on his.

"Zack, what's wrong?" She asked hesitantly, almost afraid of what the answer would be. Maybe he had cheated on her because he wasn't feeling the sparks anymore. Maybe he just didn't want a relationship anymore. Either way, Maya figured it wasn't good just judging by his actions.

Zack met her eyes and sighed. This was going to be hard and he knew it. He normally never had a problem with dumping girls, but Maya had been something different. She had meant so much to him. In fact, there had only been one other girl that had ever meant so much to him and she had been the one to turn him into such a player. Sure, he had always had a way with girls, but-. Zack blinked and took a deep breath, not allowing himself to think about it anymore. This was going to be hard enough as it is. He really didn't need to make things worse by taking a trip down memory lane.

"Maya, listen-."

Maya waved a hand, cutting him off. "I know you're breaking up with me. Frankly, I have no idea why, but it's obvious that you are."

Zack inwardly groaned. Of course she had known. He had been distant the past day after getting an email from someone of his past. He still hadn't told Cody about the email, not out of choice but because he hadn't seen him all day. It was a lousy excuse, for he clearly could've searched for Cody to tell him the news but he didn't. He would just wait until he saw Cody to tell him. He had a feeling that Cody was probably spending their last day on the ship with Bailey. Cody was such a romantic. Zack grimaced as he realized just how opposite he was of his twin. Zack had always been the player who never really dated a girl for too long and usually only dated her based on looks. That's how it had started with Maya. He had been attracted to her from the very start because of her looks. It wasn't until he asked her out numerous times and she continuously rejected him that he started to like her personality, too. She was feisty, that was for sure. Whenever the two of them were alone together she definitely showed more of that side.

"Maya, I'm sorry…" He trailed off, unable to form any more words, for he caught sight of his brother angrily storming towards him. Maya caught him staring at something behind her and turned around, nearly crashing into Cody as she did so. Cody didn't seem to notice though, for you could practically see the anger steaming off him. He shot Maya a look and before quickly shooting a glance at Zack that clearly said, 'This conversation is so not over', she scampered out of his room, refraining from slamming the door behind her.

"How could you?" Cody shouted as soon as the door shut.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zack lied, taking a seat on his unmade bed.

"Oh no, you don't get to lie your way out of this one. Why didn't you tell me? You _knew _how much he meant to me!"

Zack opened his mouth to say something stupidly witty but closed it as soon he met his brother's angry eyes. He had never seen Cody so mad in his life and Zack had definitely made him mad plenty of times.

"He was my only friend! He's gone now and you didn't even have the decency to tell me!"

"I didn't see you all day otherwise I would have."

Cody laughed coldly. "No, you wouldn't have."

Zack realized he was right. He probably wouldn't have said anything to Cody about it, not today at least. He was too numb right now. He couldn't deal with problems and this, unfortunately, happened to be a _huge _problem. This was how Zack faced his problems, though. He'd push off the emotions until they'd become too much for him and then well…then Maya would usually comfort him. That was the only person he had ever shown his vulnerable side to. Cody had seen it a few times back when they were in Boston, but living on the S.S Tipton the past few years had changed Zack. He had pushed away that emotional, vulnerable side of himself and had focused on his other traits.

Cody snapped his fingers in front of Zack's face and glared at him. "You don't deserve to be invited to that funeral. You couldn't even tell me that one of our best friends died? He was one of our first best friends, Zack. Don't you realize that?"

Zack shrugged. In all honesty, he hadn't thought about him a long time.

"Oh, that's right," Cody said, "You were always more focused on-."  
"_Don't _say her name," Zack spat, standing up and glaring at Cody.

Cody showed a little surprise at his brother's viciousness when it came to mentioning her but quickly hid it with a glare.

"We may be brothers, but we'll never be friends. Stay out of my life, Zack. I can't deal with you anymore. I'm done." He made a move to leave the room but completely froze as he realized the door was opening. An angry Bailey stormed inside, Maya following suit.

"Cody Martin, would you care to explain?" Bailey yelled, standing in front of Zack.

Zack gently pushed her out of the way and grabbed Maya's hand, yanking her out of his room while Cody and Bailey fought.

"Why, Maya? Why'd you get her involved?" Zack asked his expression blank and his tone tired. Maya realized then that the fight between him and Cody had affected him more than he was willing to let on.

"I figured that Cody was going to need someone to consul him after your fight…just like you do now."

Zack looked down, avoiding her eyes. He knew she meant well, but there was nothing she could say or do that would make him feel better after this. This fight was too intense. He didn't know if he could fix things with his brother after this.

"Maya, I think it's best if you go," He said, unable to meet her eyes.

"Zack…"

"Go!" He yelled, letting all of his frustration out. He met her eyes and almost flinched as he saw how much hurt he had just caused her with that one simple word.

"If you want to go then I'll go. I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you want to break up with me," She said, her voice wavering.

"Maya I'm-."  
"Goodbye, Zack," She cut him off, giving him a teary-eyed smile. He wrapped his arms around her one last time before watching her make her way down the hall to the sky deck.

He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to push all the overwhelming emotions away. He began to pace around his door, before barging in not even giving his brother a glance.

"Um Zack, look-." Bailey began.

"Get out of my room. And I'd prefer if you take your boyfriend with you," Zack interrupted smoothly. He grabbed his packed bags and stormed out of the room, not giving the two a second glance. Today was the last day on the ship and he'd already managed to break Maya's heart and make Cody hate him.

He made his way to the sky deck and was immediately wrapped in one of his mother's hugs. He allowed her to hug him, though he made no effort to return the gesture.

"Honey, I heard about what happened," She said pulling away and searching his face for any emotions.

"Yeah, I figured," Zack said, nodding his head. Carey searched his face before cocking her head to one side.

"Zack, where's your brother?"

He shrugged, causing Carey to roll her eyes.

"Well, the ship's going to be on land in about ten minutes, so I suggest you go find him."

Zack must've made a face because Carey gave him a look of understanding.  
"You two go in a fight, didn't you?"

Zack merely nodded his head. He opened his mouth to explain, but stopped short as he noticed the grin forming on his mother's face. He turned around and saw Cody bounding towards them, his eyes only focused on Carey. The two hugged and Zack turned away, realizing that he really didn't need this right now. He made his way over to the covered hot tub and sat on top. He played with his fingers for a few minutes before he felt someone sit down next to him. He looked up and met Bailey's eyes.

"Zack-."

"No, Bailey. I don't want to talk about it," Zack smoothly interrupted.

Bailey made an angry noise and punched Zack in the arm. He glanced at her and let out a small laugh.

"Was that supposed to hurt?"

She grinned, realizing that she had made him smile. "Yeah, kind of. I'm going to miss you, Zack."

He smiled and wrapped his right arm around her shoulders. To be honest, he was going to miss her too. Sure, they had had their number of fights, but he still loved her like a sister. He was going to miss all of this. He met Bailey's eyes and realized her eyes were wet with tears.

"Bailey, I'll miss you too. No need to cry over me," He stated cockily, a lazy smirk forming over his mouth.

She smacked his arm again and grinned at him. "Honestly, I don't know what I'll do without you twins."

"Yeah, I understand. It's going to be hard to let go of all of this," He gestured at his body and earned a laugh in response. She grinned at him before wrapping her arms around his waist.

There was a loud horn and they could both feel it when the ship came to a stop. Bailey let go of Zack and they both slowly hopped off the hot tub, making their way to Cody and Carey. Cody grabbed Bailey's hand and Carey wrapped an arm around both of the twins.

"You boys are finally coming home. Can you believe it?"

She led the three teenagers off the ship and onto land. Bailey kissed Cody one last time before running off to meet up with her parents. Zack didn't know what to expect. He hadn't been on land in so long. It felt so different. Carey led the boys to her car and they all squeezed in, Cody in the passenger seat, and Zack crammed in the back with all the luggage. It wasn't long before they were back at the Tipton. Zack grinned wildly. He never realized just how much he would miss this place, until he left it. He was the first to jump out of the car, shoving the suitcases aside. He ran inside the building, searching for one particular person.

"Zack?"

He turned around and attacked her with a hug. "MADDIE!"

She laughed and patted his back. "It's been too long, short stuff."

Maddie pulled away from Zack and grinned at him.

"You have no idea, sweet thang. I missed you."

"You're so tall, now."

It was true. Zack was almost towering over Maddie. He caught her looking over his body and grinned cockily.

"Like what you see?"

She smiled and shook her head. "Zack, I'm engaged."

"What? You are?" He grinned and greedily hugged her again.

"That was definitely not the reaction I expected," Maddie laughed, pulling away.

"Yeah well, I've grown up."

She nodded her head in understanding. "I underst- holy hell, is that Cody?"

Cody walked in carrying two of the suitcases, Esteban carrying the other three. Cody looked up and met Maddie's eyes.

"Maddie!"

The two hugged and Zack took the opportunity to talk to Esteban. He grabbed the suitcases out of Esteban's hands and set them on the floor, so he could give him a hug.  
"Little blonde people, I missed you. Although, you're not little anymore are you?"

Zack smiled. "Not anymore, Esteban. We've changed a lot."

If only Esteban knew just how much they had changed.

….

The boys dumped their luggage in the middle of the living room and plopped down on that all too familiar couch.

"So boys, we need to talk," Carey said, entering the suite and shutting the door behind her. She glanced at the luggage piled in the middle of room and rolled her eyes.

"Still the same messy pigs, I see," She mumbled.

Zack and Cody smiled slightly before gesturing for her to continue.

"Well, I've taken the liberty to invite one of your old friends to stay the night tonight. I hope you boys don't mind too much." She looked at them both waiting for any type of reaction, but when she didn't receive one she continued, "Your friend's going to be staying the night for the rest of the week, so clean yourselves up. You've got fifteen minutes."

With that, she walked away, heading into the kitchen to make something. The twins grunted and went into their room, Zack lying down on his bed wishing he could restart the entire day. Cody stayed silent the entire time they were in their room, and within a little over fifteen minutes there was a knock at the door. Cody got up and left their room, Zack following suit. Carey opened the door and both the boys froze in surprise. Cody shot Zack an uncertain look before they both hugged the girl standing at the door.  
"Max, we missed you."


End file.
